CORNBREAD STUFFING

This traditional CORNBREAD STUFFING recipe is full of flavor and loaded with herbs, sausage, onion, celery and garlic, making it a holiday favorite.

It was a pleasure working with Iowa Corn. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

I’ve been planning my Thanksgiving dinner now for a little over 3 weeks, and it now includes this CORNBREAD STUFFING. We aren’t hosting a large group this year, so I’d really like to prepare everything for our company, allowing them to truly come and relax. And of course, I have the traditional favorites on the spread this year like turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. But Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t complete without the classic stuffing, and nothing really beats my mom’s Best Ever Italian Stuffing, seriously; I love it so much.

This past week, however, I had some leftover cornbread from soup night, so I thought, “Why not try a twist on my mom’s stuffing recipe?” Now they say not to mess with a good thing because you are bound to be disappointed, and this was my thought the entire time I was making this CORNBREAD STUFFING.

If you’ve been following A Dash of Sanity for a while now, then you know how much I love corn – corn chips, corn bread, corn ice-cream {yes, it’s a delicious thing}, corn on the cob and creamed corn. I love corn so much, I love the people that grow it too. The last two years, I’ve had the chance to go back and learn everything there is to know about corn at #IACornQuest. I always feel like I come back a corn expert, even though I’m clearly not.

Every time I go back, I fall more in love with Iowa, especially its farmers, food and land. And I always learn a tidbit or two I didn’t know before. This year what I took away from the trip was all about corn and its relationship with GMO. In fact, we had a very in depth conversation this year with Ruth MacDonald, PhD, RD, a professor and Chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University. We talked everything food, including labels – to which I am so much more knowledgeable of the terms, reasons and keywords to look for and the keywords that really aren’t anything but a marketing ploy. She talked about GMOs in our food, specifically addressing corn.

One of the most shocking things I learned is that just because something has the organic label, it doesn’t mean that it’s pesticide free. We also learned that the word ‘natural’ is too broad to actually really mean anything… ummm okay, I feel lied to.

My friend Lisa from Wine & Glue might just kill me for this picture, but literally, she looks like how we all did when we were having our discussion with Ruth MacDonald. I love this so much and Lisa too.

Recently my friend Jamie from Love Bakes Good Cakes came across this fantastic video by Bill Nye who took on GMO’s – it’s extremely informative. I think much of the issue I now have with the term GMO is how much we don’t know. We don’t educate ourselves. Too many of us just go along with the trend, and I will be the first to admit that this was me. And while I still don’t know nearly enough, I’m ready and willing to learn, read and understand. Much of the misunderstanding is that we aren’t familiar with it, so we are scared on what it means. We need to take the time to find out.

After my trip with #IACornQuest, I feel that not only is GMO corn innovative, but necessary.

Here’s the deal friends: Iowa Farmers and Iowa Corn are passionate. Passionate to do the best not only for their farm, their state and our country, but also for their families. In life, we tend to trust resources and people all the time. We trust the experts. And guess what? The farmers, the people that live and breathe corn, are the experts. They are constantly striving towards excellence, not leaving one corn kernel unturned to bring you the absolute best. They are not only concerned about us, but the footprint they are leaving on the land. My hope is that we educate ourselves on corn and GMOs. There are many resources you can learn from, including GMO Answers, The Center for Food Integrity and Genetic Literacy Project. Kellie Blair is one of the ‘Boss Ladies’ we met. She and her husband run their family farm. We loved visiting their farm and had a great lunch and discussion. I admire their work ethic, knowledge and willingness to teach anyone from anywhere about corn and their industry.

I will note that my favorite part of the entire trip besides being with amazing friends and people was the cook-off where my team won with our Black Bean and Corn Cake {I have to admit there was chicken liver in there too – the ingredient we had to incorporate}.

Thank goodness I am not required to make this amazing stuffing with chicken liver. Instead it is deliciously inspired by corn.

So when this stuffing recipe comes out of your oven you will understand why my mouthwatering. You won’t be able to wait to dig in. Oh… my… goodness… Friends, this dressing recipe is divine.

I’ve always seen the dried, bagged ready-to-make cornbread stuffing recipes and have heard of people making this classic dish, but I’ve never had cornbread stuffing, ever! Wow, I’ve completely been missing out. The sweetness of the cornbread was a perfect balance with the savoriness from the sausage, herbs, celery and onion.

I love this CORNBREAD STUFFING, and maybe just a little more than my mom’s. Shhh… keep that secret {Love you mom!}. The crispness of the crust on top and the texture of the cornbread throughout the stuffing is just absolute perfection. Enjoy! XOXO San

Here are a few tidbits that may just help you with your holiday meal prep and baking.

How long do you cook a turkey with stuffing?

If you are not cooking your stuffing outside of the turkey, typically the cooking time for a stuffed turkey takes longer. A 20 lb. stuffed turkey takes anywhere from 4 1/4 – 5 1/4 hours. Check out this article for more information.

How long do you cook a turkey?

The rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound. This can vary depending if your turkey is stuffed or unstuffed, see notes above. With this being said, the best way to know if your turkey is done is using a meat thermometer.

Tips to help you with your turkey this year.

Cook the turkey until the skin is a light golden color; then cover loosely with a foil tent. In the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to make the skin a nice golden brown color.

Continually baste the turkey to get that nice golden color, this is not to make the turkey more moist {myth buster}.

Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the turkey it needs to reach 165 degrees F, do not base it off the color of the skin, this will not tell you it is done. To get an accurate temperature reading, be sure that your thermometer is not touching the bone, I like to stick it in the meaty part of the turkey.

Once the turkey is done cooking remove it from the oven and allow it to stand 20-30 minutes before carving. This makes the a more juicy turkey and easier for carving.

My favorite kitchen items to make this recipe for CORNBREAD STUFFING are below, you will want of few of these just for your everyday cooking.

The links below are affiliate links. See my Full Disclosure for further details.

POTS: So I am a total pan snob after having an assortment of brands in our cupboard over the years. After getting some Calpho pans on sale at my local grocer, I won’t try anything more. They are affordable and durable – a win, win in our home.

MEASURING SPOONS: I have to have a metal set of measuring spoons on hand. The plastic ones just don’t last long in our house partly due to the garbage disposal.

MEASURING CUPS: Nothing beats a good set of measuring cups that last a long time. I love metal measuring cups because of their durability.

Don’t forget to pin this recipe for CORNBREAD STUFFING to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

This traditional CORNBREAD STUFFING recipe is full of flavor and loaded with herbs, sausage, onion, celery and garlic; making it a holiday favorite.

Course:
Side Dish

Cuisine:
American

Servings: 12

Ingredients

6cupscorn bread cubed

5cupsItalian or French breadcubed

2 cupsmilk

1 egg

1lbItalian Sausage

1 cupcelerychopped

1smallyellow oniondiced

1/2cupbutter

1teaspoondried basil

1teaspoondried oregano

1teaspooncelery salt

1teaspoongarlic salt

1teaspoonseasoning salt, I used Lawry's

1tablespoonItalian seasoning

2teaspoonsdried parsley

Instructions

In a large sauce pan cook and crumble Italian sausage until it is completely cooked and browned. Strain grease from meat and place in a small mixing bowl for later.

In the same pan over medium-high heat sauté butter, celery and onions until tender.

Remove pan from heat, add cubed cornbread and french bread, whisked egg and all of the remaining dry ingredients. Toss mixture to combine, pour in milk and toss again to combine. Place stuffing in a 2qt casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour covered with lid. Then bake an additional 30 minutes uncovered.

If you desire a crispier top, which I suggest place oven on low broil and broil 5-10 minutes or until top of stuffing is a light golden brown.